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TV Tidbits: MTV looking for pregnant teens to tell their stories in new show
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Published: August 1, 2008
A new documentary series is looking for pregnant teenagers who are willing to discuss what they are going through as they prepare to have a baby. The series, as-yet untitled, is being developed by MTV.
"We're not here to preach or glamorize or make judgments about the situation," said Sandra Philippeaux, the casting director.
The show is looking for girls from diverse backgrounds who are between the ages of 15 and 19, and in their second to eighth month of pregnancy. The series will follow six young women. Only one, a teen from Indiana, has been selected so far.
MTV promises that the show will have a respectful tone.
"One thing I want to say clearly and definitively is this is not a reality show. It's very much a documentary," Philippeaux said.
"This is really important for MTV because of the core of our viewers are teenagers, and we want to address those issues."
The producers do not yet have a set plan as to how they will deal with such topics as abstinence and birth control, but expect to include those in the series, she said.
Girls who want to tell their stories can contact the show at mtvteendoc@gmail.com. Underage girls will need the consent of a parent or guardian to participate.
Be sure to include name, address, contact information and "why they feel it's important to tell their story," Philippeaux said.
The information will remain confidential, she said.
A family in Charlotte is getting a new house on Extreme Makeover, in an episode that is being filmed this week and next.
The recipients are Alisha and Curtis King, who run a day-care center at their house and sometimes care for children after-hours for free. Their house has grown too small to hold both the business and their family -- two sons, ages 18 and 11, and a daughter, age 6 -- and the building has a serious mold problem.
It is being demolished and replaced with a new house. While work goes on in Charlotte, the King family is being sent on vacation to Puerto Rico by the producers of the series.The Kings are scheduled to return Monday to get their first look at their new house.
The episode will be shown sometime next season.
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are best known for their film roles -- particularly McGregor, thanks to such films as Trainspotting, Moulin Rouge and the second Star Wars trilogy.
But both are also avid motorcyclists. The series Long Way Down, premiering Saturday on Fox Reality (digital-cable channel 127 on Time Warner in Forsyth County), is a travelogue that follows the duo on a 15,000-mile trek starting at the northernmost tip of Scotland and ending at the southernmost tip of South Africa.
Two animated shows produced by Steven Spielberg came to DVD this week. Tiny Toon Adventures tells the stories of a "next generation" of Looney Tunes characters, with Buster Bunny, Plucky Duck and Dizzy Devil learning how to be cartoon stars. Freakazoid! is a superhero spoof focusing on a rambunctious young hero, with occasional parodies of other cartoons thrown in. One of the highlights is a dead-on parody of Jonny Quest complete with some of the original cast providing voices.
Among other new TV-to-DVD releases this week are: Witchblade, a live-action superhero series about a woman who uses a mystic gauntlet to fight the forces of evil; the first season of Baldwin Hills, a BET reality series about teenagers in an upper-class Los Angeles community; Two Fat Ladies, a popular British cooking show; the seventh season of the seemingly never-ending NBC series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; and Dark Shadows: The Beginning Vol. 5, with more episodes of the popular 1960s gothic soap opera.
■ Tim Clodfelter can be reached at 727-7371 or at tclodfelter@wsjournal.com.
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